The frame rate issues have just been patched. I went to Riften - which was the only area where the frame rate dropped precipitously- and it runs completely normally now.
This totally reminds me of a mixture of a couple of really great European board games that I played a lot back in the day.
Namely, 'Carcassonne', whose chief gameplay loop revolves around building and developing the towns and villages around the titular city by way of laying down randomly drawn tiles, with points awarded for the construction of various things, such as rivers, towns, farms, and churches.
And, of course, that game, too, is exceptionally simplistic and a simple pick up and play - and while there can be some real strategy involved (eapecially in games with 3 or more players), nothing feels particularly high stakes. Unlike that game, however, 'Dorfromantik' seems to have traded in 'Carcassonne's' simpler 4-sided square tiles for (in my option), a more strategically interesting variety of hexagons. Of course, these 6-sided tiles give off a strong "Settlers of Catan" vibe - which is definitely not a bad thing, seeing as how it's one of my favorite board games of all time.
But, yeah - even if it is simple, I think I might get it. Finding a chill, relaxed strategy-lite type of game can be a difficult as it is. Finding one that takes and expands upon the simple but addictive nature of 'Carcassonne' (except with a 'The Settlers of Catan' aesthetic) - well, it pretty much never happens. Until now.
Do we have any hard evidence that her claim is true? I'm not saying that it's not true, but I also don't think it's wise to always just take random people at their word when, in reality, there might be multiple other reasons for her departure that have nothing to do with her amount of pay. It could be that she's presenting that one because it would be the one that's most publicly palatable and/or the one that would be the most difficult to disprove.
Odds are, she's telling the truth, but I don't like this trend towards bypassing due process and jumping straight to an automatic, evidence free guilty verdict.
The ending was horrible and a slap to the face of fans who have followed the series from its very start. The ending would have been fine if it wasn't billed as the end of the Kalus trilogy. In other words, if there was game to be set within the world's of Alrest and Antonios, then I would have had no problem with it, since the dissatisfied conclusion - which essentially rendered the efforts and sacrifices of the series' prior heroes somewhat pointless.
Furthermore, Antonios itself is more or less an illusion. But worst of all is the fate of everyone on the "planet" is unclear. It is suggested that everyone dies but not everyone returns - which, would include a large group of people that happen to live in a large and important populated area. Best case scenario is that most people are reincarnated with minimal to no memories of their previous lives - which, for those with no memories - is essentially death with no afterlife. This also has the effect of making all of the quests feel somewhat pointless, and in some cases, like a lie.
For instance, there's a quest to marry a couple in what is essentially a take on Romeo and Juliet, but with a happier outcome. However, even though it is happier, the girl's father still essentially disowns her. If you talk to her in the post game, she says that she can't wait to raise a family and to mend things with her dad. To which the heroes essentially say, "We hope there will be a good outcome..." despite knowing full well that they're going to be annihilated long before either of those things even happen. There are multiple instances where I felt like I was just leading people on and while I can on some level appreciate the idea of making people feel good while they're here, keeping them in the dark about what happens when Z is killed still feels incredibly deceptive.
The message is basically ignorance is bliss! Maybe it is, but it's not usually a disposition that most people would describe as positive. The game's conservative faction actual knows what their fate will be but we're supposed to look down on their desire for self preservation, but it seemed understandable to me.
All of this would, on its own, be unsatisfying, but when you add in the fact that - after 100 hours of seeing your party grow and become close friends - your reward is seeing them separated made it all feel even worse. Will they meet again? Maybe. The two cameos of heroes from the previous games likewise seem more or less shoehorned into it, as though to force some kind of connection beyond the amalgam of cosmetic similarities.
Don't get me wrong, I like 85% of the game. The battles are kinetic and fun, and who doesn't like a class system Chapters? Chapters 5 and 6 contained some of the most genuinely incredible and emotive moments that I've ever seen or felt in a game. It's just sad that the climactic highlight occurs closer to mid-game rather than the end - something made worse by the largely samey, generic villains - some of whom come with plot holes the size of TX.
I hope the Wave 4 story DLC ties up some loose ends because - if it doesn't - then, at least in my opinion, XC3 will probably go down as the worst of the 3, at least in terms of story.
It would be an understatement to say that I'm extraordinarily stoked to finally play one of my favorite N64 games again - and for the first time in close to 25 years. It's going to be like strapping into a flying time machine. Destination: Mid-to-late 1990s. Please remain seated.
@BloodNinja Imagine going to a Nintendo-centric gaming site just to read the articles that aren't related to the Switch, while at the same time commenting on nearly every story related to the Switch.
When Nintendo first announced the Wii virtual console, I specifically remember feeling super stoked to play Pilotwings 64 on it, which was lowkey, one of my favorite games on the N64, but the copy for which I'd somehow lost. I remember telling my cousin, rather excitedly, that I would probably get a Wii, day one, if for no other reason, than to play that game again!
Hahahaha! Haha...! Ha...
17 years later. The world has changed so much. Life got so hard. The Wii U failed. The Virtual Console is no longer even a thing. But, Pilot Wings 64 dream survived. I'm going to be honest - I didn't even listen to the video yet. I'm just basking in the glory of a destiny nearly fulfilled.
The gender neutral pronouns in thus article male me believe that terminated contractor is probably the type of person who is easily offended, will always play the victim, and who will blame everyone else for their own failings.
If NL had even a shred of journalistic integrity, the headline would read, "Nintendo Contractor" instead of "Nintendo Worker" - and why even bother changing it from 'employee' to 'worker' when both of those words are more often than not used interchangeably? I guess the clicks are more important than giving an accurate and balanced reporting on the facts of the (non) story.
@Nerdling I agree 100%, although it would be somewhat incorrect to say that this will ve first time we've heard Mario delivering any meaningful dialog. The (awesome) Super Mario Bros Super Show featured tons of dialog, as did the (terrible) live action movie (unfortunately). But, it will certainly be the first time in three decades that we'll have been treated to Mario saying more than just a few throwaway, borderline unintelligible lines. I can't wait to hear a talkative Mario again, in all of its feature length glory.
People are so gung ho on Bowser's voice. I think it sounds pretty good, definitely better than I was expecting - but, if I were to nitpick, I don't think Jack Black's voice sounds just ever so slightly higher pitched than I might have liked. Don't get me wrong, his technical delivery is spot on and hits all of the right notes, but in terms of capturing (what I believe to be) Bowser's naturally darker resonance and timbre, I might have preferred to hear the projection of his voice coming from somewhere closer to a low baritone. Doing so would have lent a deeper, more cavernous and booming gravitas to his presence - qualities which Black's voice, as it good as it is, seems to fall just short of. Even still, it's just a minor nitpick. So, while I kind think that, tonally speaking, Bowser could sound slightly better, I also think that Black's delivery seemed rather inspired. If it's that good throughout, I'll probably very quickly forget about any of my present misgivings. But, I guess we'll see!
@Kisame83 Same. As a child of the 80s and super fan of the Super Mario Bros Super Show, the switch from Albano's gruff, Brooklyn accent to that of Martinet's brighter, zanier Italian-American stereotype was initally very jarring, to say the least. I would eventually, over time, come to greatly appreciate Martinet's voice over work in the games - it's hard to imagine the Mario games being nearly as charming had they gone with the cartoon's much lower pitched, New York accent, since it just wouldn't have really fit well within the brightly colored worlds as presented within the games themselves. But, in terms of Mario being in situations wherein extended lines of dialog would be required, the Martinet voice just wouldn't do it for me. In my mind, something closer to the Albano version would just be infinitely more fitting and appealing. As for Pratt's version - with only two short lines to go by, I can't really give any solid opinion on it - there's literally not enough to go by. I obviously would've loved to have heard a return to Albano's approach, but even if Pratt's version would end up being more refrained and understated (such as what we saw in the two lines that we've heard thus far), that would still almost assuredly work better - in the context of a feature length film - than Martinet's, brilliant as it is.
The poll is also kind of ludicrous. Mario says about 10 words in the video. I mean, how could anyone (who doesn't have some kind of pre-existing ideological opposition to Pratt as a person) really come away with an informed opinion based off of that? As someone astutely pointed out earlier, methinks Nintendo Life is certainly going to great lengths to milk the story - which, tbh, I can't really blame them for. It's a huge reveal that will potentially generate a lot of traffic to the site. Unfortunately, doing so invariably leads to the posting of repetitive articles / polls, such as the one above.
While Zoomers are getting their knickers in a twist over Pratt not sounding just like Martinet, boomers like myself are still feeling the sting of the Mario in Mario 64 not sounding like Captain Lou Albano. I would argue that the switch from Albano to Martinet was far and away the more drastic and shocking radical change, when compared to the Martinet to Pratt conversion. And while I hated it at first, I eventually got over it and ended up loving Martinet's take on our favorite plumber. I'm sure that, in time, many current haters will eventually be fine with Pratt's (seemingly more understated) approach, performance, as well.
While Zoomers are getting their knickers in a twist over Pratt not sounding just like Martinet, boomers like myself are still feeling the sting of the Mario in Mario 64 not sounding like Captain Lou Albano. I would argue that the change from Albano to Martinet would be the more drastic and shocking change of the two. But I eventually got over it and ended up loving Martinet's iteration. I'm sure that, in time, many current haters will eventually be fine with Pratt's (seemingly more understated) approach, performance, as well.
@HeeHo If you already purchased the game, you only have to pay for the DLC, which is I think $15? I can't remember exactly, but it wasn't that expensive. In terms of quality and depth of upgrades, I've certainly paid more for less.
15 hours into my Anniversary Edition playthrough and I've loved it so far. I've played through Skyrim twice, but Survival Mode (which is apparently free) coupled with some new questions, a few new properties to own, and all of the other extra items, weapons and pack animals to potentially own have, thus far, imo, been worth the small price of admission.
I like any excuse I can get for another playthrough. The game is flawed but the vibe to it is also very beautiful, imo.
I honestly haven't noticed. The game still looks and plays largely the same for me. The only weird thing that's happened a couple of times is that a small, seemingly random area of the ground texture in the game's open fields of the game might occasionally not load correctly, immediately. In the 2 times where I've experienced this, the unloaded textures have gone away within 10 seconds.
In truth, I can't remember texture loading was also an occasional problem in the base game, as it's been a minute since I played it (and besides which, the game was always janky af, regardless of version or system). However, if it is as a result of having installed the Anniversary Edition, then - at least in the 15 hours or so that I've been playing it thus far - that would be the only noticeable problem that I've run into.
Aside from that, I haven't personally noticed any degradation in frame rate between versions, nor any crashes on my end thus far (hope I didn't just jinx it!). As such, I'm totally happy with getting the Anniversary Addition update - especially since survival mode has been such a blast to play!
Is Nintendo Life gonna review it, or is it content with forgoing one in favor of simply re-posting a round up of glowing reviews of the game from other websites?
@Paraka Agreed. The reverse has also been true in my experience. For instance, Dark Souls: Remastered on Switch got some really great reviews - including on this site - so I took a chance on it (I'd never played any Dark Souls games before). I bought it like 3 years ago and yet, even today, I still consider it to be one of my worst purchases on the entire console. So, despite its glowing 9.0 rating on NL, it looked and played like a 6 to me, at best. Reviews are definitely a crap shoot and should only be taken as a subjective suggestion.
@Williamfuchs420 The developer could probably only afford to buy a good preview. The rates are presumably much higher for reviews. (Just kidding - I mean, I would hope that's not the case - although the gaming review industry is kinda known to be fairly sketchy in some parts.)
"The story presents a peaceful mission into outer space to colonise a new planet. Everyone’s super chill, nice and lovely, with a modern understanding of gender identity and a right-on, post-capitalist, vegan utopian answer to every problem in the universe."
Wow, that sounds exactly like the sort of "progressive" "utopia" that many reasonable and rational people across the globe are, at present, trying desperately to escape from.
For the first third of the review, I was actually pretty interested - I mean, what's not to like? But it all went downhill from there and my sense of enthusiasm plummeted with the revelation that its rogue-like gameplay loop was looking in any tangible, overarching sense of progression. Extremely long and difficult courses where one mistake can send you back to the very beginning is fine - it is a rogue-like game after all - but to send me back to the the very beginning with absolutely nothing to show for my efforts is a bit much, imo. There has to be something independently rewarding beyond the fleeting personal satisfaction of beating a a string of stages - the lackthereof invariably leads to a sense of futility, malaise, and demoralizing tedium else for me, and is something that no amount of polished controls and gameplay can fix.
If it goes on deep sale, I might pick it up, though. Of course, if the developers would implement an overarching element of progression in a future patch, I'd probably buy it much sooner.
@johnvboy I was likewise operating under the assumption that it was a problem related to Paradigm having the rights, but that company has been defunct since 2005.
I did come across another theory that could very well explain it: Pilot Wings 64 has a map that's basically a compact version of the United States (one of my favorite maps, tbh). One of the major urban areas on the east coast is clearly meant to represent NYC, as it contains a representation of the Twin Towers.
And there lies in the problem.
One of the specific missions on that map is to fly around bombing stuff from your heli - which means one could fly to the NYC area and bomb or crash into the towers. I can imagine NOA fretting over the possibility of tasteless "9/11 re-enactments". In fact, the Towers' very presence in the game could provoke some to accuse the company showing a disregard towards the tragedy.
I mean, Nintendo's not released / re-released games for (arguably) less (ie Advanced Wars). Of course, it would literally not take much coding to simply remove one of the towers (thereby changing the twin towers into a simple, anonymous skyscraper), but I think we should all know by now that, outside of a few remasters, Nintendo's not exactly known for making very many noticeable graphical changes to their source codes.
The 9/11 theory would definitely explain why Pilotwings 64's been all but forgotten by Nintendo and remains one of the few major franchise titles to never once see a second release.
It's never been re-released on any prior virtual console, which is weird for a game that - aside from being incredibly fun - was literally the only other game not named Mario 64 that was available at launch.
Does Nintendo not have the rights to it or something? I recall them co-developing it with some company or another, but come on - it's Pilotwings 😛
Oh, and even though they're smaller in expanse than BOTW's, Witcher 3 and Skyrim both have their own relatively large worlds to explore, but unlike BOTW, their maps are brimming with loads of interesting people and places, each with a breadth of geographical, political and historical lore to discover about them if one would ever want to dig deeper. Are there too many "?" locations sometimes? Maybe. But I would rather have a lot of only-marginally-meaningful things to do than to climb yet another barren, empty hill, just to get a fresh view of the same largely-nothing in between.
Going back to lore: Skyrim and The Witcher each have tons of in-game books to find which do a great job of conveying the flavors of their world's cultures, religions and histories, sometimes down to the mundane. Yet, aside from a stray diary or two, Hyrule is devoid of such books and the NPCs who walk around usually have nothing to say of depth or interest. Adding insult to injury is that the relatively few side quests that you might be able to glean from NPCs are typically pretty ho hum and almost never give a reward that justifies the effort - and rarely does any such quest provide any deeper insight into the world itself. This problem is only compounded by the fact that the game lacks a strong overarching main story narrative to compensate for these omissions and deficiencies in detail.
BOTW's Hyrule is undoubtedly impressive in scope and large beyond belief, but - after sinking a lot of time into Skyrim and Witcher - it now just feels like its large just for the sake of being large. And while BOTW's gameplay, controls and physics are just lightyears ahead of both of those games (whose characters feel overwhelmingly stiff and janky to control), I'm no longer sure if that alone is enough to overcome the sense of emptiness that pervades nearly every aspect of its premise.
TL;DR: I loved BOTW - still do - but after playing Witcher 3 and Skyrim for hundreds of hours and coming back for a fresh playthrough of BOTW, I found its world to be surprisingly empty and shallow by comparison.
So, yeah, after beating BOTW in 2017, which I greatly enjoyed doing, it was shelved for awhile. In the interim, I sank countless hours into games like Skyrim and The Witcher 3, but finally decided recently to give BOTW another go. And wow - I won't lie - after having played those two games, Hyrule just seemed so unbelievable shallow and empty by comparison.
To combat this unexpected feeling of being under, I decided to purchase the DLC. While interesting, all this did, ultimately, was improve the time I spent on The Great Plateau. But, honestly, the way in which the DLC changed the game into something resembling stealthy survival horror was absolutely brilliant. It places you in a truly inhospitable and unforgiving place, wherein even the most mundane monster can basically one-hit kill Link with little more than a twig, thereby forcing the player to actually prioritize clever movement and resource management strategies just to survive. I loved it. In fact, I loved it so much that I wish that the entire rest of the game scaled in that way. It doesn't. By the time you're a few hours into the game post-Plateau, you're basically on par with the enemies throughout the rest of the game.
The DLC provided me with what I had originally believed BOTW was going to be: a test of survival in a lonely, ruined world, where death lurks around every corner, and where the mysterious places that might stumble upon would be worthy of finding their deeper connotations (such as with the ruined Temple of Time).
The DLC basically gave me a taste of the true promise of BOTW, but even there, it still lacked any depth in terms of its story and world building.
And therein lies my biggest criticism of the game: The world is largely one that can be defined by a few scattered points of interest with virtually nothing in between. Literally 85% of the time, the only reward that one can reasonably expect to find for their efforts in exploration is a predictable Korok seed "puzzle". You might also find yet another nameless enemy encampment with the same monsters doing the same things. Should you for some reason feel compelled to slaughter them, your "reward" in this case is usually rupees, or maybe a weapon that, regardless of its quality, will break after 10 mins.
The shrines are admittedly fun, but they serve only to demonstrate just how little there is to do in the outside world with the Shieka Slate. Yes, I know there are creative applications for the various runes if one would wish to go through the effort to, but they're usually either impractical, or serve only a form of alternative utility.
There ARE some interesting places that one can stumble on, but there are very few such places and virtually none of them are explained. Why even bother telling me the name of a deserted village / fortress / lake / mountain on the map when none of these names or places are ever talked about by anyone? There are no books with the world's lore to stumble upon and the shallow NPCs you come across on your journey appear to have little if any intellectual curiosity about the world in which they live. Hyrule is impressively large in an awe-inspiring way, but honestly - if cutting back on the size of the world would have led to more richly detailed geographical lore to go along with the exploration, I think I would have preferred a smaller world.
@twztid13 Thanks for the huge spoiler 😜 I probably won't play the game (or at least not right now anyway) but, come on - did you really have to reveal what could happen to the main character? If what you said is true, then that's kind of a huge reveal and not a common plot point,
However, since I concur with most of your societal observations...I guess I can let indiscretion slide. This time. 🤣
Wow. That an awesome deal! I loved the staggered drops with XC2's expansion pass - it kept me interested and invested in the game for a good long while, and Torna Golden Country was an absolute treat.0
@N00BiSH Very strange, indeed. Could it be that after all of these years, the Nintendo Switch has finally reached peak stability? #peakstabilityconfimed???
@HeadPirate What??? It was only 11 years since Steve met you that one time! Like, how could he have possibly have forgotten you - you, out of the 100s of other total randos he likely crossed paths with / played games with over that short span of a little over a decade?! Unbelievable.
It would be great if we could talk about anything related to the Mario movie without it predictably devolving into a woke amd virtuous takedown of Pratt.
Comments 841
Re: Skyrim Anniversary Switch Players Seem To Be Experiencing Performance Issues
The frame rate issues have just been patched. I went to Riften - which was the only area where the frame rate dropped precipitously- and it runs completely normally now.
Re: Mini Review: Dorfromantik - A Perfectly Peaceful Puzzler That Soothes The Soul
This totally reminds me of a mixture of a couple of really great European board games that I played a lot back in the day.
Namely, 'Carcassonne', whose chief gameplay loop revolves around building and developing the towns and villages around the titular city by way of laying down randomly drawn tiles, with points awarded for the construction of various things, such as rivers, towns, farms, and churches.
And, of course, that game, too, is exceptionally simplistic and a simple pick up and play - and while there can be some real strategy involved (eapecially in games with 3 or more players), nothing feels particularly high stakes. Unlike that game, however, 'Dorfromantik' seems to have traded in 'Carcassonne's' simpler 4-sided square tiles for (in my option), a more strategically interesting variety of hexagons. Of course, these 6-sided tiles give off a strong "Settlers of Catan" vibe - which is definitely not a bad thing, seeing as how it's one of my favorite board games of all time.
But, yeah - even if it is simple, I think I might get it. Finding a chill, relaxed strategy-lite type of game can be a difficult as it is. Finding one that takes and expands upon the simple but addictive nature of 'Carcassonne' (except with a 'The Settlers of Catan' aesthetic) - well, it pretty much never happens. Until now.
Viva la Dorfromantik!
Re: Bayonetta's OG Voice Actor Asks Fans To "Boycott" Third Game After PlatinumGames Wage Fallout
Do we have any hard evidence that her claim is true? I'm not saying that it's not true, but I also don't think it's wise to always just take random people at their word when, in reality, there might be multiple other reasons for her departure that have nothing to do with her amount of pay. It could be that she's presenting that one because it would be the one that's most publicly palatable and/or the one that would be the most difficult to disprove.
Odds are, she's telling the truth, but I don't like this trend towards bypassing due process and jumping straight to an automatic, evidence free guilty verdict.
Re: Nintendo Shares "Sneak Peek" At Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future DLC Waves
The ending was horrible and a slap to the face of fans who have followed the series from its very start. The ending would have been fine if it wasn't billed as the end of the Kalus trilogy. In other words, if there was game to be set within the world's of Alrest and Antonios, then I would have had no problem with it, since the dissatisfied conclusion - which essentially rendered the efforts and sacrifices of the series' prior heroes somewhat pointless.
Furthermore, Antonios itself is more or less an illusion. But worst of all is the fate of everyone on the "planet" is unclear. It is suggested that everyone dies but not everyone returns - which, would include a large group of people that happen to live in a large and important populated area. Best case scenario is that most people are reincarnated with minimal to no memories of their previous lives - which, for those with no memories - is essentially death with no afterlife. This also has the effect of making all of the quests feel somewhat pointless, and in some cases, like a lie.
For instance, there's a quest to marry a couple in what is essentially a take on Romeo and Juliet, but with a happier outcome. However, even though it is happier, the girl's father still essentially disowns her. If you talk to her in the post game, she says that she can't wait to raise a family and to mend things with her dad. To which the heroes essentially say, "We hope there will be a good outcome..." despite knowing full well that they're going to be annihilated long before either of those things even happen. There are multiple instances where I felt like I was just leading people on and while I can on some level appreciate the idea of making people feel good while they're here, keeping them in the dark about what happens when Z is killed still feels incredibly deceptive.
The message is basically ignorance is bliss! Maybe it is, but it's not usually a disposition that most people would describe as positive. The game's conservative faction actual knows what their fate will be but we're supposed to look down on their desire for self preservation, but it seemed understandable to me.
All of this would, on its own, be unsatisfying, but when you add in the fact that - after 100 hours of seeing your party grow and become close friends - your reward is seeing them separated made it all feel even worse. Will they meet again? Maybe. The two cameos of heroes from the previous games likewise seem more or less shoehorned into it, as though to force some kind of connection beyond the amalgam of cosmetic similarities.
Don't get me wrong, I like 85% of the game. The battles are kinetic and fun, and who doesn't like a class system Chapters? Chapters 5 and 6 contained some of the most genuinely incredible and emotive moments that I've ever seen or felt in a game. It's just sad that the climactic highlight occurs closer to mid-game rather than the end - something made worse by the largely samey, generic villains - some of whom come with plot holes the size of TX.
I hope the Wave 4 story DLC ties up some loose ends because - if it doesn't - then, at least in my opinion, XC3 will probably go down as the worst of the 3, at least in terms of story.
Re: Switch Online's Latest N64 Game Is Now Available To Expansion Pack Subscribers
It would be an understatement to say that I'm extraordinarily stoked to finally play one of my favorite N64 games again - and for the first time in close to 25 years. It's going to be like strapping into a flying time machine. Destination: Mid-to-late 1990s. Please remain seated.
Re: Nintendo Expands Its Switch Online Library With Pilotwings 64
This is the second most excited I've been about a game being released this year, being only narrowly eclipsed by that of Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
Re: Random: Valve's Latest Steam Deck Trailer Briefly Shows A Switch Emulator
@BloodNinja Imagine going to a Nintendo-centric gaming site just to read the articles that aren't related to the Switch, while at the same time commenting on nearly every story related to the Switch.
Re: Random: Valve's Latest Steam Deck Trailer Briefly Shows A Switch Emulator
That's a surprisingly d ! c k i s h move on the part of Valve. Tasteless af
Re: Random: Oh No, The Internet Thinks Chris Pratt As Mario Sounds Like Linda From Bob's Burgers
@nymbosox Lou Albano.
Re: Random: The Narration On The New Pilotwings 64 Trailer Really Is Something Else
Oh my god, that Barry White voice fits so well with the Pilotwings 64 music. Not gonna lie, I feel seduced. And it's never felt so good.
Re: Random: The Narration On The New Pilotwings 64 Trailer Really Is Something Else
When Nintendo first announced the Wii virtual console, I specifically remember feeling super stoked to play Pilotwings 64 on it, which was lowkey, one of my favorite games on the N64, but the copy for which I'd somehow lost. I remember telling my cousin, rather excitedly, that I would probably get a Wii, day one, if for no other reason, than to play that game again!
Hahahaha! Haha...! Ha...
17 years later. The world has changed so much. Life got so hard. The Wii U failed. The Virtual Console is no longer even a thing. But, Pilot Wings 64 dream survived. I'm going to be honest - I didn't even listen to the video yet. I'm just basking in the glory of a destiny nearly fulfilled.
Re: Fired Nintendo Worker Comes Forward With An Account Of Their Dismissal
The gender neutral pronouns in thus article male me believe that terminated contractor is probably the type of person who is easily offended, will always play the victim, and who will blame everyone else for their own failings.
If NL had even a shred of journalistic integrity, the headline would read, "Nintendo Contractor" instead of "Nintendo Worker" - and why even bother changing it from 'employee' to 'worker' when both of those words are more often than not used interchangeably? I guess the clicks are more important than giving an accurate and balanced reporting on the facts of the (non) story.
Re: Poll: What Do You Think Of Mario's Movie Voice?
@Nerdling I agree 100%, although it would be somewhat incorrect to say that this will ve first time we've heard Mario delivering any meaningful dialog. The (awesome) Super Mario Bros Super Show featured tons of dialog, as did the (terrible) live action movie (unfortunately). But, it will certainly be the first time in three decades that we'll have been treated to Mario saying more than just a few throwaway, borderline unintelligible lines. I can't wait to hear a talkative Mario again, in all of its feature length glory.
Re: Poll: So, What Do You Think Of Mario's Movie Voice?
People are so gung ho on Bowser's voice. I think it sounds pretty good, definitely better than I was expecting - but, if I were to nitpick, I don't think Jack Black's voice sounds just ever so slightly higher pitched than I might have liked. Don't get me wrong, his technical delivery is spot on and hits all of the right notes, but in terms of capturing (what I believe to be) Bowser's naturally darker resonance and timbre, I might have preferred to hear the projection of his voice coming from somewhere closer to a low baritone. Doing so would have lent a deeper, more cavernous and booming gravitas to his presence - qualities which Black's voice, as it good as it is, seems to fall just short of. Even still, it's just a minor nitpick. So, while I kind think that, tonally speaking, Bowser could sound slightly better, I also think that Black's delivery seemed rather inspired. If it's that good throughout, I'll probably very quickly forget about any of my present misgivings. But, I guess we'll see!
Re: Poll: So, What Do You Think Of Mario's Movie Voice?
@Kisame83 Same. As a child of the 80s and super fan of the Super Mario Bros Super Show, the switch from Albano's gruff, Brooklyn accent to that of Martinet's brighter, zanier Italian-American stereotype was initally very jarring, to say the least. I would eventually, over time, come to greatly appreciate Martinet's voice over work in the games - it's hard to imagine the Mario games being nearly as charming had they gone with the cartoon's much lower pitched, New York accent, since it just wouldn't have really fit well within the brightly colored worlds as presented within the games themselves. But, in terms of Mario being in situations wherein extended lines of dialog would be required, the Martinet voice just wouldn't do it for me. In my mind, something closer to the Albano version would just be infinitely more fitting and appealing. As for Pratt's version - with only two short lines to go by, I can't really give any solid opinion on it - there's literally not enough to go by. I obviously would've loved to have heard a return to Albano's approach, but even if Pratt's version would end up being more refrained and understated (such as what we saw in the two lines that we've heard thus far), that would still almost assuredly work better - in the context of a feature length film - than Martinet's, brilliant as it is.
Re: Poll: So, What Do You Think Of Mario's Movie Voice?
The poll is also kind of ludicrous. Mario says about 10 words in the video. I mean, how could anyone (who doesn't have some kind of pre-existing ideological opposition to Pratt as a person) really come away with an informed opinion based off of that? As someone astutely pointed out earlier, methinks Nintendo Life is certainly going to great lengths to milk the story - which, tbh, I can't really blame them for. It's a huge reveal that will potentially generate a lot of traffic to the site. Unfortunately, doing so invariably leads to the posting of repetitive articles / polls, such as the one above.
Re: Poll: So, What Do You Think Of Mario's Movie Voice?
While Zoomers are getting their knickers in a twist over Pratt not sounding just like Martinet, boomers like myself are still feeling the sting of the Mario in Mario 64 not sounding like Captain Lou Albano. I would argue that the switch from Albano to Martinet was far and away the more drastic and shocking radical change, when compared to the Martinet to Pratt conversion. And while I hated it at first, I eventually got over it and ended up loving Martinet's take on our favorite plumber. I'm sure that, in time, many current haters will eventually be fine with Pratt's (seemingly more understated) approach, performance, as well.
Re: Poll: So, What’s Your Verdict On The Mario Movie Trailer?
@Mario500 What was wrong with the original text? The original sounded fine, if not entirely better and more colorful than your blander suggestion 🤣
Re: Poll: So, What’s Your Verdict On The Mario Movie Trailer?
While Zoomers are getting their knickers in a twist over Pratt not sounding just like Martinet, boomers like myself are still feeling the sting of the Mario in Mario 64 not sounding like Captain Lou Albano. I would argue that the change from Albano to Martinet would be the more drastic and shocking change of the two. But I eventually got over it and ended up loving Martinet's iteration. I'm sure that, in time, many current haters will eventually be fine with Pratt's (seemingly more understated) approach, performance, as well.
Re: Backlog Club: Portal 2 Made Me Feel Clever, Despite My Minor Case Of Serious Brain Damage
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Re: Mini Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition - And Another One!
@HeeHo If you already purchased the game, you only have to pay for the DLC, which is I think $15? I can't remember exactly, but it wasn't that expensive. In terms of quality and depth of upgrades, I've certainly paid more for less.
Re: Mini Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition - And Another One!
15 hours into my Anniversary Edition playthrough and I've loved it so far. I've played through Skyrim twice, but Survival Mode (which is apparently free) coupled with some new questions, a few new properties to own, and all of the other extra items, weapons and pack animals to potentially own have, thus far, imo, been worth the small price of admission.
I like any excuse I can get for another playthrough. The game is flawed but the vibe to it is also very beautiful, imo.
Re: Skyrim Anniversary Switch Players Seem To Be Experiencing Performance Issues
I honestly haven't noticed. The game still looks and plays largely the same for me. The only weird thing that's happened a couple of times is that a small, seemingly random area of the ground texture in the game's open fields of the game might occasionally not load correctly, immediately. In the 2 times where I've experienced this, the unloaded textures have gone away within 10 seconds.
In truth, I can't remember texture loading was also an occasional problem in the base game, as it's been a minute since I played it (and besides which, the game was always janky af, regardless of version or system). However, if it is as a result of having installed the Anniversary Edition, then - at least in the 15 hours or so that I've been playing it thus far - that would be the only noticeable problem that I've run into.
Aside from that, I haven't personally noticed any degradation in frame rate between versions, nor any crashes on my end thus far (hope I didn't just jinx it!). As such, I'm totally happy with getting the Anniversary Addition update - especially since survival mode has been such a blast to play!
Re: Round Up: The Reviews Are In For NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition
Is Nintendo Life gonna review it, or is it content with forgoing one in favor of simply re-posting a round up of glowing reviews of the game from other websites?
Re: Talking Point: Which Zelda Game Should You Play First?
Glad to see that I'm in good company with the majority "A Link to The Past" voter base of NL.
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Think Of The Harvestella Demo?
@Olliemar28 Maybe, but it's also not even close to being as genuinely charming as your typical Rune Factory game.
Re: Review: Circus Electrique - Repetitive Turn-Based Battling In A Gripping Steampunk London
@Paraka Agreed. The reverse has also been true in my experience. For instance, Dark Souls: Remastered on Switch got some really great reviews - including on this site - so I took a chance on it (I'd never played any Dark Souls games before). I bought it like 3 years ago and yet, even today, I still consider it to be one of my worst purchases on the entire console. So, despite its glowing 9.0 rating on NL, it looked and played like a 6 to me, at best. Reviews are definitely a crap shoot and should only be taken as a subjective suggestion.
Re: Review: Circus Electrique - Repetitive Turn-Based Battling In A Gripping Steampunk London
@Williamfuchs420 The developer could probably only afford to buy a good preview. The rates are presumably much higher for reviews. (Just kidding - I mean, I would hope that's not the case - although the gaming review industry is kinda known to be fairly sketchy in some parts.)
Re: Rumour: The Mario Movie's True Title Probably Won't Shock Anyone
It's a perfectly fine name. Why fix what's not broken? I'd prefer that over some sort of pretentious, contrived, goofy title.
Re: Talking Point: What Was Your First Mario Kart Game?
At the risk of sounding like a boomer, Super Mario Kart, at launch.
Re: Review: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist - Beautiful, Generous, And Too Nice For Its Own Good
"The story presents a peaceful mission into outer space to colonise a new planet. Everyone’s super chill, nice and lovely, with a modern understanding of gender identity and a right-on, post-capitalist, vegan utopian answer to every problem in the universe."
Wow, that sounds exactly like the sort of "progressive" "utopia" that many reasonable and rational people across the globe are, at present, trying desperately to escape from.
Re: Review: Cursed To Golf - A Spooky Roguelike That's More Than Up To Par
For the first third of the review, I was actually pretty interested - I mean, what's not to like? But it all went downhill from there and my sense of enthusiasm plummeted with the revelation that its rogue-like gameplay loop was looking in any tangible, overarching sense of progression. Extremely long and difficult courses where one mistake can send you back to the very beginning is fine - it is a rogue-like game after all - but to send me back to the the very beginning with absolutely nothing to show for my efforts is a bit much, imo. There has to be something independently rewarding beyond the fleeting personal satisfaction of beating a a string of stages - the lackthereof invariably leads to a sense of futility, malaise, and demoralizing tedium else for me, and is something that no amount of polished controls and gameplay can fix.
If it goes on deep sale, I might pick it up, though. Of course, if the developers would implement an overarching element of progression in a future patch, I'd probably buy it much sooner.
Re: Random: What Do You Mean Super Mario's Donut Blocks Aren't Based On Donuts?
I always thought this idea that a donut block was a donut had holes in it.
Re: Train Valley: Console Edition Update Adds Switch Touchscreen Support
Why no review?
Re: Nintendo's Latest N64 Game For Switch Online + Expansion Pack Is Out Now
@johnvboy I was likewise operating under the assumption that it was a problem related to Paradigm having the rights, but that company has been defunct since 2005.
I did come across another theory that could very well explain it: Pilot Wings 64 has a map that's basically a compact version of the United States (one of my favorite maps, tbh). One of the major urban areas on the east coast is clearly meant to represent NYC, as it contains a representation of the Twin Towers.
And there lies in the problem.
One of the specific missions on that map is to fly around bombing stuff from your heli - which means one could fly to the NYC area and bomb or crash into the towers. I can imagine NOA fretting over the possibility of tasteless "9/11 re-enactments". In fact, the Towers' very presence in the game could provoke some to accuse the company showing a disregard towards the tragedy.
I mean, Nintendo's not released / re-released games for (arguably) less (ie Advanced Wars). Of course, it would literally not take much coding to simply remove one of the towers (thereby changing the twin towers into a simple, anonymous skyscraper), but I think we should all know by now that, outside of a few remasters, Nintendo's not exactly known for making very many noticeable graphical changes to their source codes.
The 9/11 theory would definitely explain why Pilotwings 64's been all but forgotten by Nintendo and remains one of the few major franchise titles to never once see a second release.
Re: My Little Pony-Inspired 'Them's Fightin' Herds' Gets Release Date And Rollback Netcode
The graphics actually look surprisingly great, with some really top shelf cartoon aesthetics. I might have to give it a try.
Re: Nintendo's Latest N64 Game For Switch Online + Expansion Pack Is Out Now
When are we going to get Pilotwings 64?
It's never been re-released on any prior virtual console, which is weird for a game that - aside from being incredibly fun - was literally the only other game not named Mario 64 that was available at launch.
Does Nintendo not have the rights to it or something? I recall them co-developing it with some company or another, but come on - it's Pilotwings 😛
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Character Designer Shares Celebratory Illustration
Not gonna lie, I think neko girls are quite easy on the eyes.
Re: Witcher 3 Dev Admits He Overcrowded One Map With Too Many Points Of Interest
Oh, and even though they're smaller in expanse than BOTW's, Witcher 3 and Skyrim both have their own relatively large worlds to explore, but unlike BOTW, their maps are brimming with loads of interesting people and places, each with a breadth of geographical, political and historical lore to discover about them if one would ever want to dig deeper. Are there too many "?" locations sometimes? Maybe. But I would rather have a lot of only-marginally-meaningful things to do than to climb yet another barren, empty hill, just to get a fresh view of the same largely-nothing in between.
Going back to lore: Skyrim and The Witcher each have tons of in-game books to find which do a great job of conveying the flavors of their world's cultures, religions and histories, sometimes down to the mundane. Yet, aside from a stray diary or two, Hyrule is devoid of such books and the NPCs who walk around usually have nothing to say of depth or interest. Adding insult to injury is that the relatively few side quests that you might be able to glean from NPCs are typically pretty ho hum and almost never give a reward that justifies the effort - and rarely does any such quest provide any deeper insight into the world itself. This problem is only compounded by the fact that the game lacks a strong overarching main story narrative to compensate for these omissions and deficiencies in detail.
BOTW's Hyrule is undoubtedly impressive in scope and large beyond belief, but - after sinking a lot of time into Skyrim and Witcher - it now just feels like its large just for the sake of being large. And while BOTW's gameplay, controls and physics are just lightyears ahead of both of those games (whose characters feel overwhelmingly stiff and janky to control), I'm no longer sure if that alone is enough to overcome the sense of emptiness that pervades nearly every aspect of its premise.
Re: Witcher 3 Dev Admits He Overcrowded One Map With Too Many Points Of Interest
TL;DR: I loved BOTW - still do - but after playing Witcher 3 and Skyrim for hundreds of hours and coming back for a fresh playthrough of BOTW, I found its world to be surprisingly empty and shallow by comparison.
So, yeah, after beating BOTW in 2017, which I greatly enjoyed doing, it was shelved for awhile. In the interim, I sank countless hours into games like Skyrim and The Witcher 3, but finally decided recently to give BOTW another go. And wow - I won't lie - after having played those two games, Hyrule just seemed so unbelievable shallow and empty by comparison.
To combat this unexpected feeling of being under, I decided to purchase the DLC. While interesting, all this did, ultimately, was improve the time I spent on The Great Plateau. But, honestly, the way in which the DLC changed the game into something resembling stealthy survival horror was absolutely brilliant. It places you in a truly inhospitable and unforgiving place, wherein even the most mundane monster can basically one-hit kill Link with little more than a twig, thereby forcing the player to actually prioritize clever movement and resource management strategies just to survive. I loved it. In fact, I loved it so much that I wish that the entire rest of the game scaled in that way. It doesn't. By the time you're a few hours into the game post-Plateau, you're basically on par with the enemies throughout the rest of the game.
The DLC provided me with what I had originally believed BOTW was going to be: a test of survival in a lonely, ruined world, where death lurks around every corner, and where the mysterious places that might stumble upon would be worthy of finding their deeper connotations (such as with the ruined Temple of Time).
The DLC basically gave me a taste of the true promise of BOTW, but even there, it still lacked any depth in terms of its story and world building.
And therein lies my biggest criticism of the game: The world is largely one that can be defined by a few scattered points of interest with virtually nothing in between. Literally 85% of the time, the only reward that one can reasonably expect to find for their efforts in exploration is a predictable Korok seed "puzzle". You might also find yet another nameless enemy encampment with the same monsters doing the same things. Should you for some reason feel compelled to slaughter them, your "reward" in this case is usually rupees, or maybe a weapon that, regardless of its quality, will break after 10 mins.
The shrines are admittedly fun, but they serve only to demonstrate just how little there is to do in the outside world with the Shieka Slate. Yes, I know there are creative applications for the various runes if one would wish to go through the effort to, but they're usually either impractical, or serve only a form of alternative utility.
There ARE some interesting places that one can stumble on, but there are very few such places and virtually none of them are explained. Why even bother telling me the name of a deserted village / fortress / lake / mountain on the map when none of these names or places are ever talked about by anyone? There are no books with the world's lore to stumble upon and the shallow NPCs you come across on your journey appear to have little if any intellectual curiosity about the world in which they live. Hyrule is impressively large in an awe-inspiring way, but honestly - if cutting back on the size of the world would have led to more richly detailed geographical lore to go along with the exploration, I think I would have preferred a smaller world.
Re: Review: Omori - An Emotional, EarthBound-Inspired RPG That's Not Afraid To Shock
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Re: Review: Omori - An Emotional, EarthBound-Inspired RPG That's Not Afraid To Shock
@twztid13 Thanks for the huge spoiler 😜 I probably won't play the game (or at least not right now anyway) but, come on - did you really have to reveal what could happen to the main character? If what you said is true, then that's kind of a huge reveal and not a common plot point,
However, since I concur with most of your societal observations...I guess I can let indiscretion slide. This time. 🤣
Re: Feature: 13 Best Seniors In Games
@Axecon I couldn't agree more! Dickson and Vandham would've both been great picks.
Re: Feature: 13 Best Seniors In Games
Strago from FF6 is conspicuously missing!
Re: Nintendo Appears To Be Stockpiling Raw Materials, Doubles Its 2019 Spending On Supplies
@Slowdive Drake?
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 To Get An Expansion Pass Including New Story Content
Wow. That an awesome deal! I loved the staggered drops with XC2's expansion pass - it kept me interested and invested in the game for a good long while, and Torna Golden Country was an absolute treat.0
Re: Switch Online's N64 Update Is Live (Version 2.4.0), Here's What's Included
@N00BiSH Very strange, indeed. Could it be that after all of these years, the Nintendo Switch has finally reached peak stability? #peakstabilityconfimed???
Re: Switch Online's N64 Update Is Live (Version 2.4.0), Here's What's Included
Nintendo's removing comments from the config files, now? Oh, Snap!
Re: Review: Steve Jackson's Sorcery! - One Of Switch's Very Best Narrative Games
@HeadPirate What??? It was only 11 years since Steve met you that one time! Like, how could he have possibly have forgotten you - you, out of the 100s of other total randos he likely crossed paths with / played games with over that short span of a little over a decade?! Unbelievable.
Re: Chris Pratt On Voicing Mario: Says It's "Unlike Anything You've Heard In The Mario World"
It would be great if we could talk about anything related to the Mario movie without it predictably devolving into a woke amd virtuous takedown of Pratt.